Updated: Oprah Won’t Attend Kumbh Mela

UPDATE (Feb. 16): It seems unlikely Oprah will be attending the Kumbh Mela after all. We heard back from Nicole Nichols, a spokeswoman for Oprah Winfrey’s TV network, who said Ms. Winfrey has no plan to come to India.

Oprah Winfrey is used to crowds.

Last year, when she made a star appearance at the Jaipur Literature Festival, the event saw record crowds. Police barricaded the road leading to the Diggi Palace hotel, where she was set to speak, while masses of people pressed around sealed entrances to the venue. Some – including one of our intrepid reporters– climbed over fences and flower pots to sneak into the venue and catch a glimpse of her. Others fled to its upper floors for a better view of the T.V. show host, and to avoid a possible stampede.

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Ms. Winfrey seemed used to that kind of attention. But is she so used to crowds that she’s willing to take on the Kumbh Mela, a Hindu festival touted as the biggest gathering of people on the planet?

She’ll be going there to tend to her spiritual growth, the paper reported. “Many celebrities come here to demystify the exotica – Naga Sadhus et al – but Oprah is coming purely for spiritual reasons,” a person apparently overseeing her visit was quoted in the paper as saying.

At the Kumbh Mela, devotees dip in holy rivers, which they believe cleanses their sins. (The big question: Will Ms. Winfrey take the plunge in the murky waters?)

The Kumbh Mela is one of the few places in the world where Ms. Winfrey’s appearance wouldn’t make much of a ripple.

Around 30 million religious pilgrims are flocking to Allahabad, in the state of Uttar Pradesh, to attend the two-month long festival.

Despite long event planning and serious infrastructure – tens of thousands of police officers, hundreds of doctors and 18 temporary bridges – the crowds are intimidating. Relatives routinely lose each other, and last week 36 people died in a stampede at the local railway station.

Attending the festival may increase Ms. Winfrey’s popularity in India, which suffered a setback last summer after the airing of her India special on her primetime series “Oprah’s Next Chapter.” Many found the show caricaturized India and were offended when she noted that Indians “still” eat with their hands.

Ms. Winfrey is not the only celebrity rumored to be attending the Kumbh Mela. According to the Times of India, others include Hollywood actor Richard Gere, filmmaker David Lynch and Beatles legend Paul McCartney – though none of them have publicly confirmed this.

But security worries mean that high-profile guests may cancel. The Dalai Lama called off his visit to the Kumbh Mela earlier this month, the Hindu newspaper reported, and Congress Party President Sonia Gandhi also cancelled her trip for that reason.

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